In Development

Two weeks to go until the start of a new decade. I’m excited to make my list of best films of the decade, but most lists I found didn’t include the indy, Canadian, foreign or documentary movies for me to remember.

So I compiled my own list! (2400 titles in all) I’m posting it in case it helps anyone else remember some of the non-Hollywood films. You can also download the sortable excel spreadsheet (natch).

Let me know if I’ve forgotten any, or if anything is mis-categorized!

Now to the actual work of narrowing down my faves – will definitely post a list of my top 20, or more likely, 50…

Please post a link here to your list! Would love to hear what you loved!

I was lamenting a couple of weeks ago that I didn’t have a chance to talk much with my fellow filmmakers about the process of making artistic choices. Looks like that will be turning around. Last night, I met with some great folks from the Winnipeg Film Group, many of whom I haven’t had the chance to work with yet, and I’m excited by the possibilities in our new monthly gathering. If you’re interested in coming out for the discussion and sharing our own work, contact Ryan and Shira who are organizing things.

I’m helping Conrad Hoy make a short film this weekend. So it’s been a few weeks of making plans and visiting sites and grabbing crew. Great to have lots of talented people helping us out – will be fun to be on set again.

Will have to miss day two, as I must take advantage of an amazing opportunity to learn from Patricia Rozema, who will be in town all weekend. Tomorrow night, she’s introducing Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter, which I’ll have to miss as we’ll be shooting in the woods. But then Saturday, I’ll be taking a day-long master class with her. Can’t wait to hear her thoughts on writing and directing, and her artistic choices!

Cinematheque will be showing two of Rozema’s beautiful films this weekend as well: Mansfield Park and I’ve heard the Mermaids Singing. So all in all it should be a most excellent weekend of film!

OK, so it’s now Chinese New Year, I know, but they release so many in the last 2 weeks of December – it’s impossible to see them all before December 31, especially in Winnipeg!

Without further ado, my semi-official top 10:

Milk

10   Milk – Devastating, especially when you hear Anita Bryant and Dan White uttering the same bigoted words in 1978 that we’ve heard in 2008. Penn’s performance was spirited, and I loved Emile Hirsch and James Franco, but it would have been nice to see a gay actor in one of the roles! (and more lesbians!) I hope the Academy nominations will bring in more audience.

9    The Visitor – Saw at TIFF ‘07 actually. I’m a big fan of Thomas McCarthy and Richard Jenkins, and neither disappointed. Heart-wrenching dramatization of the immigration issue, with the bonus of a post-50 love story.

8    Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven – Turkey/Germany) – Lives and stories are interwoven as the compelling, sympathetic characters criss-cross between Germany and Turkey. Nuanced, hard-hitting story of loss and the power of forgiveness.

7    Rachel Getting Married – Demme’s style made me feel I was watching a home video rather than a film, eavesdropping on the wedding preparations and celebrations of a realistically dysfunctional family merging with another. The use of live music throughout was effective, and major bonus points for the Robyn Hitchcock cameo. Hathaway’s performance was — in contrast to so many others noted this year — organic, in fitting with Jenny Lumet’s naturalistic script. Hats off too to Debra Winger and Bill Irwin as the tragic parents.

6   Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In – Sweden) – I can’t usually watch horror films, but the raves for this low-budget Swedish vampire film were too compelling to ignore. I’m so glad I overcame my qualms, as the film’s themes of loneliness, connection and bullying are pitch-perfect. About 300 times more interesting than Twilight, the film shows why a young teen might in fact welcome a vampire into his or her life, when surrounded by all-too-humans.

Let the Right One In

5    Il y a Longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long – France/Germany) – For a first film, this was a killer by Philippe Claudel. Kirsten Scott Thomas’s performance is engrossing, unnerving and staggering. She is supported ably by her fellow actors, who handle her like a fragile parchment they can’t decipher. My one quibble would be to stay ambiguous at the end regarding the “secret” that hovers over the first 90% of the film.

4    Slumdog Millionaire (UK/US) – Believe the hype! While the film deals with some heavy topics like endemic poverty, religious wars, and human trafficking, the call throughout the well-told tale is To Life. I was fortunate enough to see this at TIFF ‘08, where Danny Boyle was begging the audience to spread the word so he could get distribution! It was clear from the audience reaction that the film was heading to the People’s Choice award, and as we know, the buzz Boyle wanted has definitely occurred! A friend calls this the first Obama film – a screen full of non-white faces, full of hope in the midst of despair.

3   Dark Knight – Watching the IMAX-camera scenes on an IMAX screen propelled action movie-going to a new level. Loved how the score, cinematography and editing created a cohesive experience. Fascinated by the twists in the underlying socio-political allegories, but had major issues with the extension of the film into what I consider a fourth act (felt the same way about Casino Royale). Like so many others, I was hypnotized by Ledger’s performance, but not exactly overwhelmed by anyone else’s.

2    Hunger (UK) – Forget the CGI transformation of Benjamin Button. Transfix yourself watching the metamorphosis of Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands — from a long-haired prison protestor, to a scissors-shaven muscular negotiator, to the skin and bones he becomes during 66 days of his hunger strike. Controversial video artist Steve McQueen is not afraid in his long-form debut to nauseate and mortify us with scenes of police brutality and the inhuman conditions of the prisoners, who were reduced to spreading feces on their cell walls. In a strong choice, the hunger strike itself takes up only the last fifth of the film. The film’s postscript that 9 more men went on to die in the hunger strike is a dagger.

1    Flammen og citronen (Flame & Citron – Denmark/Germany/Czech) – OK, I know you’ve never heard of this film. Its only showings in North America have been at film festivals. For your sake and mine I pray for a DVD release. I only wish I could see it again on the big screen.  Jørgen Johansson’s stylized cinematography evokes graphic novels and gangster films. Former Dogme director Ole Christian Madsen co-wrote the film after years of research that turned up new information on these two legendary assasins from the Danish resistance to the Nazis. Mads Mikkelsen and Thure Lindhardt deliver barn-burner performances in this true story of courage, political machinations, war-time morality, and the multiple forms betrayal can take.

Flame & Citron

Want more? Here’s the “bubbling under” set:

• Frozen River – great woman-centred indy film
• Happy-Go-Lucky (UK) – Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins messed with my head a bit as I waited for a shoe that was never dropped
• 50 Dead Men Walking (Cdn – wide release in ‘09) – Kari Skoglund’s take on the life of an IRA informant
• Che (wide release in ‘09?) – Part One alone is worth seeing. Part Two gives an even fuller measure of The Man versus The Myth.
• Man on Wire (Doc) – Setting a story of such optimism, vitality and mischievousness against the backdrop of the Twin Towers is mind-blowing.
• The Reader – Winslet’s performance is remarkable, but the last third of the film seems to undo all of the dramatic punch of the first two thirds, as it incomprehensibly attempts to paste some kind of happy ending on a story that could never have one.
• The Wrestler – Again I say to you, believe the hype! A monster performance by Rourke, and a treat for anyone who follows the entertainment form.
• My Winnipeg (Cdn) – Guy Maddin puts my town on the cinematic MAP, baby!
• Changeling – Sooo overlooked! A really interesting film, based on a fascinating true story, that was very poorly marketed. (I thought it was a horror film based on the poster)
• Down to the Dirt (Cdn) – Admirable feature debut by Jusin Simms, sharing a subjective slice of a little-seen part of the world: Newfoundland. Knock-out performance by Joel Hynes, the writer of the novel on which it’s based. Hilarious surreal sequence set in Halifax with cameo by Hugh Dillon.
• In Bruges – Brilliant dialogue; Farrell knocked my socks off. The turn from contemplation to violence is explosive and for me, excessive.
• Frost/Nixon – Great battle of the minds and wit in a story I’d never heard before.

And finally, a few others that may have passed under the radar, for your consideration:

Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love (Doc)
More Than a Game (Doc)
Passchendaele (Cdn)
Ashes of Time Redux (Hong Kong)
Kisses (UK)
Young People Fucking (Cdn)
White Night Wedding (Iceland)
Flash of Genius
The Bank Job
Examined Life (Cdn, Doc)

It should be noted that I haven’t yet seen and greatly anticipate:
Entre les Murs (The Class) and Synecdoche, NY.

Am I missing anything you would champion? Any of these dead wrong? Let’s hear it!